


Courting Gifts

by PieWritesFics



Series: Devil-verse drabble stories [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Buggy is mentioned briefly, Drabble, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Revolutionary Army!Rouge, Roger is a dork
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-14
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2019-03-31 02:37:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13965531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PieWritesFics/pseuds/PieWritesFics
Summary: Roger thinks that devil fruits make good confession presents; Rouge isn't complaining (much.)





	Courting Gifts

**Author's Note:**

> Side-fic to my work Devil Woman, to get it out of my head and my head back into writing these characters.

Rouge walked along the docks, searching the area subtly with Haki. There was no moon, the streetlamps were few and far between and even then most of them were either grungy or broken; all in all, not the kind of area any sane woman would want to be in, alone, at 2am. But she had an appointment to keep.

 

_Meet me by the docks when you get out tonight,_ Roger had said. She didn't know how he'd found her, since she was on assignment working as a barmaid, but he didn't blow her cover and he had only ever caused her the best kind of trouble in the time since they'd met. He had the devil's luck, and probably hadn't even been actively looking for her. She wasn't about to blow him off.

 

She felt his presence before she made it to the Oro Jackson, stopping in a particularly shadowed area. "Nice choice of meeting spot. So, what's this about?"

 

Roger's white teeth showed in a grin. "I have," he said, pausing slightly for dramatic effect, "a present for you." He pulled a small chest out from behind his back, presenting it to her with a flourish.

 

Rouge raised an eyebrow. Not that she didn't appreciate it, but... "Why?"

 

"I, uh... realized I missed your birthday?"

 

Bullshit. "You met me three years ago and have never once bothered about my birthday. I don't even think you know when it is."

 

"All the more reason to get you something nice!"

 

_"Roger."_

 

He was not deterred in the least. "Go on, Miss Revolutionary. You'll love it, I promise!"

 

She sighed. "I'm not getting rid of you until I do, am I?"

 

"Nope," he replied, adding a pop to the end of the word.

 

It had been a long shift, she was tired, and she'd had to deal with shitty customers trying to feel her up most of the night. Honestly, Roger's crew coming in had been a boon, scaring off most of the sleaze-balls she'd been way too close to decking. If he wanted to give her something, fine. The woman reached to take the chest, opening it immediately since she knew the pirate captain would want to see her reaction. When she did, she nearly choked on air.

 

"You—I—is _this_...?"

 

"A devil fruit!" He really did look far too proud of himself.

 

"You're giving it to _me?!_ "

 

"Of course!"

 

_"Why?"_

 

"Because I like you." Heat flooded her face, giving a red backdrop to her freckles. _How he can say something like that so bluntly, and all of a sudden..._

 

"You're serious right now." A firm nod, his blasted grin still in place. "You really... Alright, what does it even do?"

 

" _Jikan Jikan no Mi_ ," Roger recited. "It does... well, time manipulation things, I didn't really get it when Rayleigh explained it all. With your job, I figured it would come in handy for one thing or another!"

 

"Something that... and _you_ don't want to eat it?"

 

"Nah. Not really my style. Besides, Buggy says they taste _really_ bad, so..."

 

"Uh- _huh_." Of course he did. "And you didn't want to just _sell_ it?"

 

He laughed. "I have enough treasure! Why would I sell something like this when it could be of use to you, Miss Revolutionary?"

 

"I..." _Dammit_ why did he have to make so much sense about everything? "Thank you."

 

If possible, Roger's grin had widened. "Don't worry about it!"

 

Carefully, she plucked the large fruit from it's container to examine it. It was an odd pale blue, textured with twists and swirls that were somehow reminiscent of little whirlpools. Holding it seemed to give her a warm feeling, though that might be because of the man who'd given it to her. _Well, hesitation's never gotten me anywhere,_ she mused.

 

Taking as large a bite as she could was either a very good or very bad choice. She'd underestimated just how _abhorrent_ the thing would taste, but she'd made a decision and she was going to stick to it. Roger, for once in his life, seemed to be stunned silent as she forced herself to swallow, then repeated the process until all that was left was the twisted stem. There was a beat of total quiet before the pirate's laughter filled the docks.

 

"That was amazing!" he chortled, reaching into his coat pocket and pulling a flask out, handing it over without a pause. "From the look on your face I'd expected you to spit it right out, but you really ate the whole thing, huh!"

 

The whiskey took care of the devil fruit taste in her mouth, but it seemed to only make her blushing problem worse. "Well, if I didn't how would I know it would work properly? I just hadn't been expecting it to taste so..."

 

"Bad?"

 

" _Awful_." This time they both laughed.

 

"Well, you're the second person to tell me how bad they taste. Guess if I find anymore, I'll just have to give 'em away again!" Roger waggled his eyebrows salaciously, hoping for more laughter from her.

 

Instead, Rouge smirked at him. "I wouldn't say no to another present, Captain. If you _really_ must."

 

"Oh?" he replied, slightly taken aback by her teasing tone. "Well, in that case, I think I do. Must. Er."

 

Rouge tried and failed to suppress a smile. Roger, big bad pirate captain, tripping over his words because of _her_ was... actually pretty cute. "Well, I should head in. It's another long day at the pub tomorrow, so..." Offering the box back along with the flask, the man only took the latter.

 

"Nah, you keep that," he said. "It was part of your present, after all. Want some company for the walk to your place?"

 

She snorted. "What, and come back from work tomorrow to find you and half your crew in my shitty apartment? I think I can manage on my own, thanks."

 

Roger swept his big, ridiculous hat off his head, affecting a formal bow belied by the rakish grin that was once again in place. "A good night to you then, lovely Rouge."

 

"And to you, Captain." Rouge started toward her base of operations, then paused. "Oh, and Roger? If you couldn't guess, I like you too." If she had an extra skip in her step on the way, well, none of the townsfolk were awake to notice.

* * *

 

 

That night, Silvers Rayleigh did not get any sleep whatsoever, for when his captain came back to the ship the goof immediately pulled him into a dance, calling for the musician on watch to strike up a tune. The cheerful explanation of **_"She likes me!"_** was enough to put a fond smile on the blond man's face, and the first mate didn't have the heart to make his captain settle down.

 

He may or may not have taken it out the next day on those of the crew who'd gotten a full eight hours or more of rest, but nobody was about to call him out on it.


End file.
